An unsuitable blog for a woman...

August 31, 2014

Margaret Lucke is participating in the McGucken Theatre Workshop in rural Sonoma County, CA, which takes place from August 29 to September 1. The theme for the event is "Dial M for McGucken: Mystery in Black and White." http://www.mcgucken.org

Terry Shames reports that A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge is due at editor Septemeber 1... she's racing to the finish line! Terry also says that she's received the cover for her next, and it is PERFECT! We are eagerly awaiting the time when she can share it with us...

From Mysti Berry: I finished the first draft of my pulp novella for Stark Raving Press, and it's marinated for a week. Draft two, and an unlady-like fusillade of swearing will commence tomorrow.

Camille Minichino is going to LABOR on her WIP (2nd Post Office Mystery) and aim for 12,000 words by Monday.

Priscilla Royal has been sighted outside her cave, holding a jar of sharpened quills. The cats' refusal to supply more toasted cheese and Three Twins ice cream has forced the much rounder author to return to her labors. This is good, the cats report, because she better earn cat food money...

Back to work, Priscilla!

WARNING! NEXT TOPIC

Yes, our next topic is about warnings. Definitely needed for "thin ice," or "dangerous curve ahead," ... but for books?? For monkey bars in the playground??

So, don your safety helmets and glasses, and don't forget your elbow pads, because we're warning you right now: The LadyKillers will not be responsible for you falling out of your desk chair or running a stop sign whilst you peruse the upcoming posts on this hot (! get your oven mitts on too !) topic...

Warning! Hot topic ahead...

Put away your summer whites...

Speaking of warnings... Labor Day approacheth, so time to pack up those white clothes and get ready for fall... at least, that's what SOME folks do:

Camille is putting away her whites, in keeping with the East Coast tradition!

Priscilla responds: Pacific Northwest too, Camille. It was the cause of twice yearly major closet cleaning by my mother. As they sing in Fiddler on the Roof, TRADITION...

Ann recalls and comments: I remember white Easter dresses accompanied by little straw hats and straw "purses" when I was way way young (mid-20th century era)... I have one pair of white pants in my closet for "cruise wear." Wouldn't dare wear white pants on a daily basis, summer or not.

August 29, 2014

Snoopy sits on top his doghouse, paws poised over his typewriter's keys. It, he types. He gets up, paces while he thinks, goes back to type some more. It was. More pacing, more thinking. It was a dark. Pace, pace, think, think. It was a dark and stormy night.

Writers have always known that to be true. People who don't write sometimes have other expectations.

Some years ago, when personal computers were first taking over the world, a writer friend of mine told me about a colleague at her day job, who announced his intention to join her in being an author: "I'm getting a computer and some of that word processing software. Now that it's so easy, I'm going to write a book."

This fellow was mistaking the tool for the process. Compared to hunting and pecking on a typewriter or scribbling on a tablet with a pen, a computer is an easy way to deal with the mechanics of putting words on a page. But the real work of writing isn't done with your fingers but with your mind and your imagination.

And then there was the student who took a course I taught called Fiction Writing Basics. After the last session he wrote on the evaluation form: "I expected this class to be fun, but Ms. Lucke makes writing sound like work."

What I had hoped to convey--and I think most of the students got this--is that writing is work … and fun. It is some of the most enjoyable and gratifying work you can do. Yes, there are days, as Snoopy will attest, when every word feels like a struggle. But there are also the days when the words flow without effort, when the hours you put in feel like minutes, when you end with a warm glow of satisfaction. Granted, days of the second type are fewer, but the intermittent reward keeps you coming back for more.

Even the frustrating days, the ones when you want to tear out your hair, can be satisfying. A bad day of writing is better than a good day doing most other kinds of work. What's more, I find that the next day when I reread what I've written, the quality of what I produce on the best and worst days is about the same. Thank goodness we’re allowed to edit and revise.

As that sage philosopher Anonymous once said: "Writing is simple. It's just a matter of putting the right words in the right order." But what are the right words? And what is the right order? Figuring that out is where the challenge, the work, and, yes, the fun begin.

August 28, 2014

It has recently been brought to my attention that I have written twelve books in the past four years. Well, twelve that are contracted, two that are languishing in the ether we call computer memory, and a short that is sputtering its way to sales shelves as we speak.

That’s a lot of books.

The realization astonishes me as I generally feel like a complete fraud, spending most of my time in my bathrobe and flip flops eating cookie dough ice cream right from the carton—which, let’s face it, is just a fancy way of saying “eating straight cookie dough” since I tend to shun the ice cream and mine for the little balls of dough. Yes, my laptop is open during these mining sessions and yes, once I’ve gotten my (temporary) fill of balled up chemicals and chocolate chips, I go right back to whatever I’m writing, but still.

When I noted this to a friend, he said, “That’s because writing is not a job job. Since you love what you do, it’s easy for you, so of course you feel like an ice cream-eating fraud.”

I pondered that when I went home and sat in front of the vast white expanse that is Chapter Eleven of my latest book and came to this even more apt conclusion: loving something doesn’t make it easy. Correction. Loving writing doesn’t make it easy.

I’ve always loved the way words come together to make pretty sentences and those sentences weave together to make scenes and those scenes jump out and grab a reader by the face and scream, “Scared? Yeah baby, I did that to you!” or some such thing—but it doesn’t make it easy.

Writing is hard. The stories in your head don’t always translate to paper. The characters you’ve created can be like sullen teenagers, fascinating, but interested in absolutely nothing you have to say and completely refusing to do anything you need them to do. The beautiful, flowery phrase you agonized and sweat blood tears over is the first one misunderstood by your critique partner and redlined by your editor. You bleed your soul onto the page and some stranger with an Internet handle like “Bunnybouncebounce64” says she found your story “lame.”

It’s hard—but it’s worth it.

The next time you sit down at your computer or recording device of choice and your muse is taking a nap, remember that: writing is hard. It’s not always a walk in the park or a blind recording of the book of your heart. Sometimes it’s a jungle trek with man-eating spiders and soul crushing snakes. Sometimes it’s a wrestling match and rather than tease your story out, you have to go into your mind’s eye, club it over the head, and drag that sucker onto the page. It’s not always going to be easy. It’s not always going to be pretty. But when the fight is over and you’re bloodied, battered and breathing hard, in front of you will be something incredible, something that you did and you’ll know that the blood spilled and hair pulled was infinitely worth it. Just…try not to get cookie dough on it.

August 27, 2014

It takes a lot of courage to stay motivated as an author, but if you love what you’re doing, it’s more fun than hard work. With the popularity and availability of self-publishing and e-publishing, many more writers have the opportunity to get their stories out there. There is more competition than ever before and fewer traditional publishers. Millions of books are being published each year, but only a small percentage make a living with their writing.

Why do we do it? Because we like to tell stories. It’s our craft, our passion, and defines who we are. It is said that everyone has a story inside him or her. I can see that. I have many ideas, yet I’m unsure if there’s enough meat for a whole novel. Maybe a short story would work best for some. But many never write their story down or they fill notebooks with ideas but are afraid or embarrassed to proceed. It takes courage to follow a story to the end. And when you do reach the end, you wonder:

"What if no one will publish it?"

"What if readers don't like my story?"

"What if I can't find a satisfying finish to my story?"

There is so much more to writing than just having an idea. The expression of that idea, the investment in the characters, plot, and flow is similar to giving birth. Something wonderful is happening and someday it will be mature enough to breathe on its own. It takes months and months to complete a novel. You need to create characters that fly off the page, and who your readers will care about and not want to leave. Your main characters must be likeable but with flaws. If you’re writing romance, your female lead has to be beautiful, with a striking alpha male to go with her. Mysteries give you more leeway for creating people and putting them in dangerous situations. You’re going to want interesting secondary characters, but only in longer works.

You will need other eyes to decide if your novel is good. A critique group can offer positive criticism and support to help you reach a satisfying conclusion to your story. Your novel will need a well-balanced plot. The story line will have to race and peak at certain parts and in other places let readers catch their breaths, but just for a second, before you race toward the showdown at the end.

The thing to remember is you wanted to write. A blank page can look threatening and overwhelming, but if you strike those keys, you will thank yourself later when you see your idea come to fruition.

August 26, 2014

August 25, 2014

Writing hard is kind of difficult topic to visualize. What exactly does it mean? I sort of get the impression of someone slaving over a keyboard, desperately trying to beat a deadline. Maybe it’s because I was in that position last month when I was struggling to make a July 30th deadline for a new novel. I made it, but not with much time to spare. I’m now in the process of writing the second (of four) books on my current contract, and facing another deadline, but this one is not breathing down my throat. So this time I’m determined not to fall into the same set of circumstances as the last one. Hopefully, I’ll be able to pace myself better and avoid falling behind. Then I won’t put myself in the position of having to be writing hard.

Write every day, even if you’re not in the mood.

As I said, the way to do this is to pace yourself. Start writing early, and keep at it, even if you don’t really feel like writing. The sage advice is to write every day, even if you’re not in the mood. If you wait until you are in the mood to write, you’ll probably do a good job putting words on paper. Inspiration will no doubt do that. But if you wait until you’re inspired each time, you’ll probably end up with an unfinished manuscript.

The process I use is a simple one. I can’t claim credit for it, but it works. I sit down with a certain time allotment and the goal to write two pages and then I crank them out. At the end of those two pages I’ll briefly pause and assess what I’ve done. There are times when I can write myself into the mood of writing, and if I have, I’ll keep going. If, on the other hand, I look at those two pages and decide they’re substandard, and I just don’t have it in me to keep going, I’ll stop and do something else. But at least I’ll be two pages closer to my goal of finishing.

A lot of times, when I do go back later and look at those substandard two pages, I’ll get an idea on how to tweak them to make them better. Sometimes putting them aside and taking on a new project can allow your subconscious to work on the problem, and when you return for the rematch, you know just what to do.

Writing hard might also describe instances when you are inspired and don’t want to stop. I’ve been there, too. I once wrote for an entire day (approximately 12 hours or more) finishing up a novel I’d been working on. It wasn’t that I had a deadline, but rather I was on a roll. It was New Year’s Day, and cold and snowy outside. I don’t think I left the house all day, and took breaks only to grab a bite to eat, make coffee, or go to the bathroom. I managed to finish the novel, producing 25 pages, in one long, extended session. My usual page limit is about 10 or 12 before I’m too exhausted to go on. That particular day remains my personal best, but like I said, I was inspired.

Not that I’d recommend marathon writing sessions. I’ve usually found that writing too long is almost as bad as not writing long enough. I can usually tell when it’s time to stop because I find myself taking quantum leaps in the scene. I’m subconsciously anxious to finish, and start to leapfrog over certain details to get to a stopping point. If you find yourself doing that, it’s probably time to stop writing.

Once again, the key is pacing. If you’ve got a long race to run, you don’t want to tire yourself out in the first part. Leave something in your tank for the last leg. On the other hand, you don’t want to get so far behind that you find yourself in a bind with an approaching deadline. It’s just like voting in a Chicago election: start early, do it often. (Election days in Chi-town are incredibly busy.)

So be mindful of the two Ps. Preparation and pacing are the best ways to avoid placing yourself in a position where you’ll find yourself writing hard.

August 24, 2014

Priscilla Royal's Covenant with Hell was a finalist for the Killer Nashville Conference's Silver Falchion Award in the historical fiction category. Satan's Lullaby is off for ARCing. She remains in her cave but is out of cheese and ice cream so will emerge soon....

Camille Minichino teaches her online Golden Gate University class “Science, Technology, and Social Change” starting Sunday, August 24, with 22 eager undergrads. Her schedule for fall writing classes is on her website www.minichino.com

IS WRITING HARD?

One answer to the question is the oft-quoted "You just open up a vein and bleed onto the page."

But is it really as painful and difficult as all that? Maybe so, maybe no. We will explore the topic from five perspectives this week. Stay tuned! And meanwhile, some other quotes from other writers on the subject:

"People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it." ~Harlan Ellison

August 21, 2014

When I first heard prejudice was this week’s topic, I figured I wouldn’t have anything to talk about. Characters in my book come from various ethnic and racial backgrounds, but issues of prejudice over these differences never enter the picture. But then I realized that prejudice isn’t confined to only race or gender. Prejudice, both positive and negative, pops up everywhere, often in more subtle ways.

Take Ashlee, Dana’s immature younger sister. She’s under the impression that everyone over the age of forty is boring and uncool. Mind you, she isn’t good friends with or particularly close to anyone over forty, other than her own mother, so she has little personal experience to back up her assessment, but that’s never stopped Ashlee from making ridiculous comments about anyone with gray hair or plenty of wrinkles around their eyes.

Similarly, Dana believes that all vegetarians are healthy. Never mind that she has no idea whether or not any of these vegetarians ever exercise or what their latest cholesterol or blood pressure numbers are. She has no way of knowing if one of them sits around and eats cheese puffs all day (that’s a vegetarian dish, right?). Dana has an image in her mind of what a nonmeat-eating group of people is like, and there isn’t an unhealthy one in the bunch.

And I’m sure my own prejudices slip in when I’m writing these stories. For each character I create, there are dozens of choices I need to make about each one. What kind of car do they drive? What is their favorite beverage? What do they like to do in their spare time?

Many of my answers to these questions are based on pre-conceived notions. For example, I can’t imagine Gordon ever bowling in his spare time. He’s much too uptight, always concentrating on Esther’s farm and keeping it in business. But who says bowlers are a laidback bunch? That’s simply a prejudice on my part, no doubt fed by all those TV shows and movies where blue collar workers love to meet up after work for some beer and bowling.

It’s hard to get away from prejudice. Our brains are programmed to assess any given situation with the information we have access to. Sometimes our decisions and opinions are based on fact. Other times, they’re based on assumptions and misinformation. And that’s where prejudice comes in.

August 20, 2014

I’m almost done with the edits from Book #4 in my Samuel Craddock series. In the book, entitled A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge, Craddock interviews an elderly woman who spends her days sitting on her porch eyeing the people who go by. She used to live next door to one of the other characters, a man who married a woman of Mexican descent. Here’s what the woman says when Craddock asks about the man:

“He married a wetback.”

“Did you meet them?” (Craddock asks)

“Just to look at. Anna Kolajecko told me that girl up and left him. I said serves him right for marrying out of his race. It’s not right them that go outside their own people. Causes everybody trouble. I would have put my foot down if one of my sons had brought home something like that.”

***

I had to think twice about whether to include this in the book, but the woman has a small but important part in the book and unfortunately that is exactly the way she speaks. I know her, know what her house looks and smells like, and know her family. She and people like her live in the same world with Samuel Craddock and he has to deal with them.

To ignore characters like her is to gloss over a real part of life. Allowing the old woman to speak the way she normally would doesn’t mean I condone her—it means that I honor my writing enough to allow my character to be exactly who they are.

There’s another man in the book, a convict, who is a white supremicist. He’s a low-life scum and he has his say. He’s also part of the world Samuel Craddock lives in—a man who can’t be ignored

Just because I let them have their say doesn’t mean I would let such a character take over, but I can’t ignore their existence. And neither can Samuel Craddock. He needs to get information from them and can’t dismiss them just because he doesn’t like them.

It’s not my intention to be judgmental, but to show the whole fabric of the world, not just the good people. I hope that the contrast between someone with mindless prejudices and someone like Samuel, who is a decent, thoughtful person, will be illuminated. As I write I don’t intentionally make those contrasts. They come out because they are part of the world Samuel inhabits in my head—part of the world we all inhabit. When I edit I have a chance to think about what it means to let people I don’t have respect for have their place in the books I write. But the bottom line is I know they have to be there if the book I write is true as I intend it to be.

August 19, 2014

One of the interesting problems in writing historical mysteries is prejudice in the characters. Sometimes it can be avoided by making the sleuth one of the minority who was enlightened, but this is hard to make believable. As an example, Southern plantation owners before and during the American Civil War were rarely (think hen’s teeth) abolitionists. (The North wasn’t predominantly a paragon of justice either.) And we can only have so many books that contain those who were not typical of their era/culture without reader credulity being strained.

So what’s an author to do when their historical sleuth hits the hot button issue of the time, especially if that sleuth is a pretty decent sort? Sometimes we have to swallow hard and work with it.

My two sleuths are monastics in the medieval era. Brother Thomas is not a man with a calling to the religious life, and he argues with his deity a lot, but he generally accepts Christianity, the dominant creed in 13th century England. Prioress Eleanor, although a capable and pragmatic woman who would give Meg Whitman a run for her stock options today, has a sincere vocation and faith. So what happens when they are faced, in Sanctity of Hate, with certain decisions regarding a Jewish family caught in the local village because the young wife may die from giving birth?

Research!

Anti-Semitism was endemic in the era, especially under Edward I. That said, slaughter was not condoned by the Catholic Church even though the Church thought discrimination was fine and cheered on those yellow badges and pointed hats. The desired goal was wholesale conversion of the Jews so Christians could get on with the end of the world. In reaching this goal, Jewish children were sometimes forcibly baptized which meant they could not continue to live with their Jewish parents and must be given to Christian families. If a Christian doctor was present at a difficult birth and the Jewish mother and/or baby were in danger of dying, he might baptize them because he wanted to keep their souls from his concept of hell.

In my book, the Jewish family is faced with a horrible choice. If the skilled Sister Anne helps with the difficult birthing, the mother and/or child might live, but the two might be forcibly baptized. Based on her own deeply held beliefs, Prioress Eleanor is also faced with crucial decisions about forcing baptism. She does make the most compassionate decision, but her reasons are not exactly what I would prefer and she regrets to the end that the family refuses to convert. Do I want to shake her? Yes, but she has to be of her era whether I like it or not.